Self Care With A Biblical View

Welcome to Reset Your Health, the podcast where

we'll discover your mind, search your heart,

and repair your body. I'm your host, Mary Phillips,

and joining me today is my husband, Stephen.

Hello. In today's episode, we're going to cover

self -care with a biblical view and kind of what

that all means and what the Bible has to say

with caring for ourselves. Do you usually feel

overworked or the kids draining you? Or how about

just life stresses? Maybe it's financial stresses,

maybe it's work, you know, I mean, just tons

of different things. And it's something I definitely

have struggled with for many years, being overworked

and overwhelmed. And how can I take time? This

is what I've always thought is how can I take

time for myself when there are still more to

get done? So there's always toilets to clean.

There's always things that could be. cleaner

in the house, there's always food that needs

to be made or an errand that needs to be run.

I mean, it's just never ending. So I've always

felt really guilty taking a little bit of time

for myself and just kind of sitting and relaxing,

whether it's take a bath or get in my Bible in

the middle of the day. or just anything, maybe

taking 10 minutes to have prayer. I feel guilty

of those times of of caring for myself. And Steve

has always told me I need to take the time for

me. And I always say, well, my exercise time

is my time for me. Well, with teaching so many

classes, my exercise time kind of became not

mine, but more so I was teaching and I enjoyed

it and I still got to work out. But even that

became part of my work. And so I lost that. So

it's still a work in progress for me that it's

OK to have self care time, whatever that may

be for you. Maybe it's exercise. Maybe it's reading

a book. Maybe it's just sitting and doing nothing,

not thinking about anything. So I just want to

talk about a little bit of what happens when

we don't take that time. And one of the things

that happens is we become angry with her. family

or with those that we are caring for because

we kind of become resentful of them in a way.

I just think about the fact that, man, I'm doing

all of this for them and I never get anything

in return, you know. Life's busyness overtaking

everything you do. Yeah. And so a lot of times

when we don't take that time for ourselves, we

can become depressed and dissatisfied. It turns

into negative. And we're just thinking negatively

all the time because we're not being filled back

up. We're being drained. And maybe we go to bed

and we get a quarter of a cup from a full cup.

But we're never getting refilled when we don't

take that time to worry about that self -care.

And so then your thoughts are negative. Maybe

you're short or tempered with your husband or

your kids or your wife or whoever it is. Or maybe

at work, you're not performing as well because

you're so drained. Work is draining you. You

just have to... It leads us into these negative

spots, I guess. And we can start falling away

from those that we love. We can start falling

away from our spouses, our children, our parents,

whoever it is. And so I just want to kind of

explore in itself what is self -care. And self

-care is actually defined as anything that is

done deliberately to focus our efforts on caring

for our health mentally, physically, or spiritually.

So I love that because it's not just talking

about mental here, it's talking about the physical

and it's talking about the spiritual. And so

I'm kind of gonna just cover today all three

of those aspects. And like I said, this is on

a biblical view, so I have a lot of Bible scriptures

that I'm gonna Talk about today and I've kind

of been wondering should I start with spiritual

health physical health mindful health I can't

think they all kind of go hand -in -hand though

to be honest Because if one of them is out of

sync with the rest of them it can make for a

pretty miserable day Yeah, well we we have we

must take care of our needs and in turn can take

care of others because if we're not taking care

of our own needs and they become so much harder

for us to take care of others. Well, and if you

don't love yourself and you don't take care of

yourself, you're no good to anybody. Yeah. And

one of the first first verses I have is for God

gave us not a spirit of fear, but of power and

love and self -control. Second Timothy one seven.

And it's not exactly in self -care that one,

but just that self -control that we have and.

And the more we give time for ourselves, the

more we can have that self control. So I guess

today, let's just go ahead and start on our physical

care. So the first verse I have with that one

is, then because so many were coming and going

that they did not even have a chance to eat,

he said to them, come with me by yourselves.

to a quiet place and get some rest. Mark 6 31.

And this was Jesus talking to his disciples.

And right there, Jesus is telling them, OK, everybody

is coming and they're wanting to hear what the

disciples and what Jesus had to say. But Jesus

is like, no, it's time. We need you guys need

to eat. You need to rest. We just need rest time.

We need self care time. And so that's Jesus speaking

right to the disciples saying it's OK to take

a break. And so that one is kind of a big one

because a lot of times we we don't want to slow

down or we feel like we can't slow down. Yeah,

there's there's times where, you know, whether

it be with work or with tasks that you have or

just priorities that are coming your way, that

you just feel like you can't step away or you

you have to complete them or it just kind of

eats at you. And there is, you know, that opportunity

where you need to kind of take a step back. Yeah,

because this is talking about that physical side.

And if we're not physically allowing ourselves

to get the rest and the relaxation that we need

physically, then then we can't physically keep

doing the amount of work and everything that

we need to be doing. All of the tasks that we

have before us are not going to do great because

we're physically worn out. Part of my physical

as well has always been Working out. I mean for

the past 12 years. I've been over 12 years now.

I've been working out and it just is part of

who I am at this point and maybe your workout

is just a couple walks around the block taking

the dog for a walk. Maybe it's it's it is an

exercise class or whatever it is for you, but

For me, that is part of my physical health. I

need to have that. I feel better. And that runs

into my mental health. Because if I'm not getting

my exercise and my physical health, my mental

state really suffers. So that's where I say everything

just kind of runs hand in hand. And taking care

of our health is truly biblical on all of these

aspects. Another verse I have is, do you not

know that your bodies are the temples of the

Holy Spirit? who is in you, whom you have received

from God. You are not your own. You were bought

at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."

1 Corinthians 6, 19, 20. I just want to reread

the part that says, you are not your own. So

that is just huge to me because of course we

are each individual people and God has given

us each a different character, different different

things we're good at, all of that. And he loves

us for our individuality and who he made us.

But at the same time, we're the Holy Temple.

And so if we're the Holy Temple and we expect

we have we invite the Holy Spirit in and the

Holy Spirit is living in us, then physically

it also goes into what we're feeding our bodies.

And you knew this would come up on my podcast.

Because, of course, I'm always talking about

health and health has a lot to do with the nutrition.

And honestly, if we're putting junk into our

bodies, we're putting junk into the temple. I

mean, I don't know if you go to church or if

you've ever been inside a church, I'm guessing

most of you have. But usually you don't take

junk into the sanctuary and just kind of throw

it everywhere. I mean, if you do, well, I don't

know. You have to care for the temple, the sanctuary

at the church. Well, our bodies are a temple

for the Holy Spirit. So it's the same thing.

If we're taking in unhealthy nutrition, if we're

taking in junk food all the time, and I'm not

saying that the occasional, you know, Christmas

cookies here and there or whatever. But I'm just

saying, like, if we're not feeding our bodies

that nutrition physically than it needs, then

we're not taking care of ourselves, that self

care. And we're going to feel worse because we're

going to feel bloated. We're going to feel fat

or we're going to feel tired. I mean, taking

in nasty food just makes you tired anyways. Well,

that kind of goes hand in hand with the self

control part of that other quote in the Bible.

Yeah, because I mean, just like sugar, sugar

is going to give you a quick sugar spike, but

then you have the sugar crash. So then what does

somebody usually do? Go to another source of

sugar and sugar doesn't have to just come in

a candy bar. I mean, I'm not going to go far

in depth in this episode, but sugar can even

be in healthy foods that we think of like fruit,

which I'm not saying to stay away from fruit.

I'm just saying be careful because. A lot of

times we can eat a lot of fruit because it is

good. It's sweet, but it still is sugar. So it

gives you a sugar spike. Well, a little bit later

you have a crash and then you go for either more

fruit, sugar, but most of the time, most people

I talk to don't go towards fruit anyways. They

go towards the candy bar or the vending machine

or even hot, something high in carbs. Maybe you're

not a huge like sweets person. But if you get

that potato chip, those potato chips, you're

still going to get an insulin spike because of

the carbs and sugar that are in it in the process

of it. So just caring about that all the way

around physically. Well, it's something that

is needed that is biblically shown, like the

fact that Jesus even tells them to rest, to to

eat. And I'm sure he meant eating healthfully,

you know, to give them that energy. And so it's

our responsibility to take care of the temple.

And the next one is that emotional care. So taking

care of ourselves emotionally. How can we truly

care for those around us and those that we love

if we're unhappy ourselves in our mind, in our

emotions? I mean, we're not gonna give them good

quality care if we're not giving ourselves the

care that we need. This week, one thing I did,

which was a little off for me, and I usually

don't, but I had a little bit of time on Monday

afternoon. And some of you may have seen my live

feed when this gets recorded. It was a couple

of weeks ago. But anyways, may have seen a post

about my Thanksgiving and what I did with Thanksgiving.

And I was at Windsor Lake. And I actually had

I could have came home and cleaned, but one,

it was the end of November and 72 degrees. So

I really didn't want to be in the house. I wanted

to get outside. I had taught at the the resort

all morning and I just want to get outside in

the sunshine. And I took a walk around Windsor

Lake, so a little over two miles or so. And.

I felt so good afterwards because I had taken

that time for myself. I felt guilty when I first

thought about it. And then I was like, no, Mary,

you need this. Emotionally, you need this before

you head back home and you start working or anything

else before you start doing the things you know

you have to. You need it. So I took about 45

minutes to just take a nice two and a half mile

walk. Like nothing crazy. And it was just, I

don't know. We need that mentally for ourselves,

but because of that I was able to do my jobs

and Be with my kids and my husband stuff all

week better because I took that time and The

Bible has a few verses on the emotional side

And one of them is a cheerful heart is a good

medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bone

Proverbs 17 22 I love Proverbs my favorite book

in the Bible. I probably hear a lot of verses

from me when I'm pulling out verses from Proverbs,

but I love how it says, a cheerful heart is good

medicine, because I always say we are who we

surround ourselves with. If we surround ourselves

with negativity, we become negative. But if we

surround ourselves with positive, we become positive.

And that's exactly what this Bible verse is saying.

Because when we're with somebody that's depressed

and down and just, you know, always looking at

the grass is always greener at the other side,

right? You know which people I'm talking about.

It gets pretty draining. Like, honestly, when

they can't ever see the good in life, and I'm

not saying some don't have it harder than others,

we've been through some pretty tough stuff ourselves.

So it's not like our life has always just been

hunky -dory and perfect and it still is not.

But I try to turn everything to the positive

and just lift people up and because if we're

just being draining to those all the time then

we're gonna take others down with us. So emotionally

we need to keep ourselves higher but we also

need to feed it to others too to help them. then

whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty

and he who rules his spirit then he who takes

care a city or takes a city I'm sorry Proverbs

16 32 so whoever is slow to anger is better than

the mighty I mean just sound that is one that

I've definitely had big struggles with in my

life was the slow to anger and I guess for me

it's not a lot of times the slow to anger It's

it takes me a while to get there, but once I

hit it, I can get very angry. And so I have to

really work on that and focus on it all the time.

I'm being slow to anger. And I have noticed that

when I'm emotionally better with I've taken care

of my emotional state, I am more slow to anger

because again, my cup is more full. And so I

have more that I can give out and I can be more

slow to anger. And then he who rules his spirit,

then he who takes the city. I mean, more mighty

than that. So it's just showing that being slow

to anger is actually what's going to take the

city. Not not the ones that are just rulers and

want to be in command. But yeah, I feel like

all of that has to do with that. That self -care

and how we take care of ourselves is how we're

going to show up. in certain situations, I think

a lot of those that are quick to anger are always

wanting power, per se, are the ones that haven't

taken care of themselves. And so they feel down

on themselves, which in turn makes them treat

others horribly. Well, they're not in control

of themselves and not powerful over themselves.

And so they feel the need to do it to others.

And so, but. That need kind of goes away if you

just take care of yourself to begin with and

then you can feel good about The control that

you do have which is in your own life Well, it's

like our kids. I mean our kids don't really understand

self -care quite yet because kids are just selfish

at heart period and so With kids they automatically

just want self self self But really, it's us

parents that have to feed in all of these things

I'm talking about, that physical care, that emotional

care, that spiritual care. And so that's why

we become so drained is because we're trying

to feed it into our kids, because our kids will

be a lot better behaved and stuff when everything

is covered there. Not that they'll be little

angels. My kids are not angels. Well, they are

angels, but, you know, they don't act like angels

all the time. But anyways. It's just the more

I feed into them and show them how much I love

them physically, emotionally, spiritually, the

better they are. And the final one I want to

do is spiritual health or spiritual health care

or self care, I guess, is we should have a relationship

with Christ, with God. And that is what being

a Christian really means, is having a relationship

with Him. And our spiritual health is what we

will lead. Well, our spiritual health is what

will lead us to a physical and mental health.

So this is why earlier when I was like, I didn't

know what to start with. I thought about starting

with spiritual health for this reason, but excited

to end it with the spiritual health just so it

keeps dwelling in your mind. And one verse here

that most of you probably know is John 3, 16,

very favorite. For God so loved the world that

he gave his only son that whosoever believes

in him should not perish, but have eternal life."

And that one, I mean, most know this verse, if

you know the Bible at all, because it's just

constantly reminding us of how much God has done

for us. And just in that, the fact that he sent

his son to die on the cross, is enough that we

should want that spiritual health, that we would

want that relationship with Him. And with that,

we're going to feel better because we're going

to know God is right there on our side and He's

taking care of us, even if sometimes in life

it doesn't look like it. But the closer we are

to Him, the more spiritual self -care we have

and the more, I guess, better that we feel. And

if God sent his son for us and he loves us that

much, why would he want us to live broken and

overwhelmed or an overworked? He wouldn't. I

mean, honestly, he wants to see us thriving.

He wants to see us loving ourselves. He doesn't

want to see us hating ourselves, looking at ourselves

horribly, downing ourselves or anything. And

so that only gives us another reason why we want

to come closer to him. And the final Bible verse

I'll have here is the Lord will guide you always.

He will satisfy your needs in a sun scorched

land and will strengthen your frame. He will

be like a well watered garden, like a spring

whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58 11. And that

is just a wonderful promise that if we stay faithful

to him, if we grow our spiritual health in him,

if we come closer to him, He will save us. He

will satisfy our needs. He will be like a well

watered garden. I mean, everybody knows gardens

need water, especially here in Colorado, where

no water comes besides from sprinklers. So lots

of droughts. We've been having two years of droughts

pretty bad. Yeah, I mean, it just shows that.

God will care for us and God will feed into us.

It does not mean life will be perfect. But the

more we take care of ourselves and the more that

we lean into God and come closer to him, then

the better we will feel and then we'll just have

a better peace, I should say. But so in the future,

don't take to no longer feel guilty. And I know

I know I'm talking to you moms out there. So

listen. Put your babies down right now. Hold

on and listen. Because I know us moms, we feel

guilty to take that self -care time. Figure out

a time. I don't care if it's five minutes a day.

Maybe you can get away for a half hour a day

or even an hour a day. But take some time every

day to have that self -care. Maybe it's walking

around the block, walking to the mailbox. Maybe

it's, you know what, I'm going to focus on my

nutrition. I'm going to finally care about my

own health. I'm going to finally take the time

to figure out what I need to do to feel about

better, to have more energy, to feel better about

myself, to not feed my body crap. Maybe that's

what it is, or maybe it's the emotional side

of things. And you just want to sit down and

relax and read a book. Take that time. And with

the spiritual health, I just have to say we all

have to continue to grow there. I mean, we never

will be perfect and in the right place. And so

that's just one that should be obvious for everybody.

And just don't feel guilty about it. And we should

work, but we also should rest. And I'm not saying

sit around and be lazy for six or seven hours

a day. What I'm saying is take that time to just

care and you'll know what it is. And so I challenge

you and I don't know if we'll have a comment

section since we haven't discussed this at all.

Well, once it's posted on Facebook, there'll

be a good way to do that until we get the opportunity

to get a website. Well, what I would love you

to do is comment to me, how will you take care

of yourself? What are you going to start doing?

for yourself or how do you do it? Maybe you already

do it and you're pretty good in this area. That's

wonderful. I want to hear what it is you do for

yourself or maybe you're finally like, you know

what, I'm not going to feel guilty about this

anymore and you're going to do it. So please

comment and let me know and I guess we will talk

to you next time.